The present invention relates to shielded electrical cables and shielded electrical connectors to be affixed thereto, and in particular to the termination of the shielding braid provided at the electrical cable. More specifically, the present invention can be applied for sealed electrical connections which are for instance necessary with automotive applications.
When terminating a shielded electrical cable, it is common to electrically couple the shielding braid of the cable to a shield member of an electrical connector or electrical device. One way of accomplishing this is to attach the braid directly to the shield by welding or soldering. Another method is to include a crimp ring that fits above the braid of the cable and may be crimped thereto such that the braid is positively retained. After crimping, the crimp ring must be connected with the connector shield. Radially expanding resilient elements may be used to establish the connection between the crimp ring and the housing. Another known solution is to crimp the braid directly to the connector housing. This may be accomplished by providing a flange that extends from the shield that would fit beneath the braid and provide a crimp ring thereover, that when crimped tightly fastens the braid therebetween. It is also known to join the braid to a shield flange directly as described above, but rather than using a crimp ring, a second ring is used that is press fit thereupon, thereby captivating the braid between the two rings.
However, most known solutions suffer from the disadvantage that they are not sufficiently robust to withstand the vibrations and temperature changes in the automotive application field. Moreover, in many cases the connection between the shielded electrical cable and the shield of for instance, a housing has a too high electrical resistance. On the other hand, soldering connections are making the assembly much more difficult and expensive.